Enterprises and organizations that may be running legacy solutions from Microsoft are having an eventful autumn. Earlier this month, Google announced that it will stop supporting Chrome for Windows Vista and Windows XP, both of which are no longer supported by Microsoft, as of April 2016. This means that IT administrators are left with one of several options. They can simply use a different browser until that one also stops supporting the OS, they can upgrade to a new OS or they can utilize system restore software in order to mitigate any potential security-related damages that may result from using Chrome on a dated OS.
Shortly before this announcement, Microsoft made headlines with the declaration that, starting April 2016, it would no longer support SQL Server 2005, and that vital security updates from the OEM for the relational database management system would cease. Once again, IT administrators find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Upgrading can be a time-consuming and costly process, one that might not be feasible between now and the end-of-support date. The good news is that like dated OSes, there are solutions that can keep dated server technology operating smoothly after vendors terminate support.
Reboot to restore: What it is, and how it works
Due to the foreboding nature of the cyber threat landscape and the chronic risk of user error, maintaining enterprise computing environments can be a painstaking process that generates mountains of help desk tickets. In some cases, IT departments are simply overwhelmed with troubleshooting requests. As a result, employees are stuck twiddling their thumbs as they wait for their system to go back online.
The concept of reboot to restore helps alleviate this strain. In a nutshell, reboot to restore software is a tactic that simplifies the process of a system restore. As for how it works, well that’s the simplest part: As the name suggests, simply reboot the machine to restore the desired system settings. Rather than requiring a long and time consuming troubleshooting process, IT staff can simply restart the machine in the event that something goes awry, for example, a malware intrusion or adjustments to system settings. This tool is extraordinarily useful in a diverse array of computer environments. Universities, primary schools, government offices and even major retailers can benefit from the ability to restore upon restart.
Applying this to server technology
Computers are not the only enterprise systems that benefit from reboot to restore. Servers, like computers, also face a number of vulnerabilities, and IT staff spend a sizeable portion of its time on the job maintaining them. Mitigating the damage of a zero-day threats, reducing server downtime and uninstalling unwanted software are just some of the benefits that reboot to restore software for servers can offer, such as Faronics Deep Freeze Server solution,
Part of the beauty of reboot to restore is its ability to help computer systems running dated OSes and unsupported software deal with potential security issues that may arise. Just as solutions such as Faronics Deep Freeze Enterprise achieve this for computers, reboot to restore solutions can do the same for servers.
Microsoft’s termination of support for SQL Server 2005 is not necessarily the product’s death sentence, nor is it portentous of a tough decision ahead for IT administrators. Solutions exist that can streamline server maintenance even after support for the platform has ended. In fact, Deep Freeze Server specifically mentions Windows Server 2003 as an example of type of solution that can help IT administrators maintain in a post-support existence.
This means that system administrators who may have been dreading Microsoft’s announcement can take a deep breath thanks to Deep Freeze. The solution might be just a reboot away.
